Offspring

From Publishers Weekly Off Season (1980), the tale of a cannibal holocaust in rural Maine, established Ketchum as a writer of hardcore horror and cultivated ground where Splatterpunk fiction eventually took root. This sequel, first published as a paperback original in 1991, reprises characters and themes from its predecessor and far too much of the grisly plot. Survivors of the feral flesh-eating clan, who were all but destroyed at the end of the first novel, are back and chowing their way through the locals again. Amy Halbard and Claire Carey strive to survive their abduction by the cannibals and save their children. A subplot involving Claire's despicable husband, Steven, gives Ketchum another opportunity to cleverly compare predatory civilized folk to the appetite-driven primitives. The story is suspenseful, fast-paced and intelligently written, but readers nurtured on horror fiction that has come up in the wake of this saga may wonder what the fuss is all about. Agent, Alice Martell. (Apr. 5) Review Jack Ketchum is probably the scariest author in america. ---- Stephen King Just when you think the worst has already happened... Jack Ketchum goes yet another shock further! --Fangoria OFFSPRING may well be the most horrifying book you will ever read. ---- Robert Bloch

The local sheriff of Dead River, Maine, thought he had killed them off ten years ago—a primitive, cave-dwelling tribe of cannibalistic savages. But somehow the clan survived. To breed. To hunt. To kill and eat. And now the peaceful residents of this isolated town are fighting for their lives.

The local sheriff of Dead River, Maine, thought he had killed them off ten years ago--a primitive, cave-dwelling tribe of cannibalistic savages. But somehow the clan survived. To breed. To hunt. To kill and eat. And now the peaceful residents of this isolated town are fighting for their lives .. The family of cannibals from Off Season is back for seconds